Frontiersman for Dummies 2

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POWDERS, 2006
The selection of acceptable powders has grown significantly since I first wrote this.
Wholly Black
Goex Cowboy
The appearance of Goex Cowboy made life easier for the shooter who wants to use
real black powder. Equivalent to FFFg, it is clean burning, virtually without fines,
consistent and fast. If you want to use BP, use this in all of your weapons, even the
shotgun. It'll simplify things. The instructions say for cartridges 40 gr. or smaller,
but 65 gr. shotshells work, too. For your percussion pistols,use a Wonder Wad
between powder and ball. Over ball grease is not necessary. You can expect to
shoot an entire day's match without having to clean the gun other than wiping
down between stages. For your rifle BP lubed bullets are required, and generally
some bore swabbing during events is required depending on the bullets used.
Substitutes:
Pyrodex
If this is the only thing you can find or you have 40 lb. left, then, by all means, use
it, Pyrodex P is equivalent to FFFg. Use it exactly like Black Powder but clean more.
It is corrosive. Hodgdon has just lately announced that their tests indicate it is safe
to use in progressive reloading machines with powder measures designed for
smokeless powder. Essentially it is Black Powder modified so it can be shipped
easier.
American Pioneer Powder, form erly Clean Shot
Recent production APP has been improved over Clean Shot. It does not require lube
in percussion pistols or cartridge weapons. If you get it to foul, you're really doing
something wrong. Clean up (below) is extremely easy. It can be used in a
progressive reloading machine. Though recent production is less hygroscopic than
Clean Shot, assume it is hygroscopic. Don't leave it in your brass powder measure
for long periods of time. Don't leave it in reloading machines. Don't leave partially
completed rounds in your reloading machine. You may leave your guns uncleaned
without worry of corrosion (but leave them oiled). It smokes more than Cowboy but
doesn't make the boom or fire. It "travels well," meaning it's low maintenance at
multi-day matches.
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Hodgdon 777
Designed for hunters, this is hotter than BP by about 15%. It is very clean, meters
well, doesn't seem to be hygroscopic, and, though Hodgdon states it's corrosive,
you may leave your guns uncleaned for several days. This smokes more than
Cowboy but has a definite bang, not a boom, and it doesn't throw flames. It travels
well, too.
Hodgdon's velocity comparison
chart. Triple Seven is about
15% hotter than Goex
Cowboy, and Cowboy is hotter
than American Pioneer
Powder and Pinnacle. Pyrodex
is hotter than Cowboy.
Goex Pinnacle
Brand new -- made by American Pioneer Powder for Goex, it is much like APP but
has some advantages. It is black, not grey. (If you wonder why that's an
advantage, think. It's not a grey powder substitute.) It meters better in FFg. Both
meter well in FFFg. My tests indicate it's hotter than APP. Wally Wenzel's tests
show about the same velocities. I found it more accurate with lower standard
deviation numbers.
Ruger Old Army, 5-1/2" barrel
147 gr. "Dawge Balls", Round balls, .457"
Powder
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Gr. Vol.
Hi
Lo
e.s.
Avg.
SD
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Cowboy
30
711 669 52
681
19
Pinnacle FFFg
30
763 657 106 731
45
777 FFFg
30
842 793 49
810
20
APP FFFg
30
669 467 202 553
83
SHOOTING RUGER OLD ARMIES
The following constitutes THE EASIEST, LEAST TIME CONSUMING techniques of
shooting percussion pistols I've found:
We're not looking for the CHEAPEST method or the MOST AUTHENTIC method. We're trying to figure a way to load
10 chambers per stage and get 10 bangs every time and still have time to do our chores for the posse and enjoy
the match without feeling hurried.
This type powder flask, available from multiple
sources, is easy to use and maintain. Don't leave
powder in it b etween m atches.
Buy 2 brass powder flasks, the kind with the screw on
cap and screw on spout. For competing with the
Ruger Old Army you want nominally 20, 25 and 30 gr.
spouts.
Percussion Caps
I bought a tin of each kind of percussion caps available locally and picked the brain of Rowdy Yates, SASS #141
and BP/Frontiersman guru. The instructions say use #10 caps. I have tried #10 and #11 Remington and #10 and
#11 CCI caps and RWS #1075 #11 and 1075+ caps. They all went on except #10 CCIs. In actual shooting I found
the #10 Rem ing tons worked best for me.
Nipples
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A trick I've learned is to mark one nipple with a
red permanent marker. I'll keep that as the
empty one. So I'll start loading one after it.
Then finding the "empty" chamber to put
under the hammer is easier, and capping the
correct 5 nipples is eased. It also becomes a
topic of discussion at the loading and
unloading table when the monitors see it and
wonder why.
The stock nipples are good and don't need upgrading. Get some spares, though. They will get peened by the hammer and
need replacing eventually. Other Ruger shooters have found an improvement in Treso nipples. These are very useful on Colt and
Remington replicas. They have a smaller flash hole, which theoretically means less blast pressure on the hammer, and thus better cap
retention upon firing. Trying them would be the first thing to do if you have a recalcitrant Old Army.
Cap Seating:
Use a short dowel (or a period correct Bic Pen) to push the caps on to seat them. Don't use your thumb, and don't
use something metal. The former looks really bad when the cap fires accidentally, and the latter can make them
fire accidentally. If they can be made to fire with a wooden dowel, then I haven't heard of it (or been able to do it
in tests). Additionally, before using them, look at them to make sure they still have their colored chemicals in
them. They fall out sometimes, and that cap won't fire.
The Ruger seems better about shedding caps than the "authentic" C & B pistols, but I've had fired caps hang up in
the hammer slot. Clearing fired caps after shooting is just part of C & B shooting. The guns worked on by Lee's
Gunsmithing hardly ever have cap-jamming problems.
Personally I like them a bit tight so they have to be pushed on with your period correct 1870 dowel. Keep your
hands BEHIND the cylinder gap. When finished you should have the hammer down on an empty chamber.
While you can just take caps from the tin, examine
them, and put them on pretty quickly with practice,
use a capper. In fact, have enough caps in cappers for
the entire day's match when you get there so you
won't have to be refilling the capper during the
match. You have enough to keep you busy.
Remember, simple, not cheap. Buy at least 2 Cash
Cappers, the kind that are all brass and hold 100
caps. When you load the capper you'll check each cap
for the proper color inside. Remington are green, and
I've had as many as 5 out of 100 not be green. I kept
them out of the capper.
Ted Cash Snail type revolver capper
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These Remington #10 caps are supposed to be green.
One's brown. It may or may not go off. If you're really
frugal, keep them for practice. If the green paper is
missing entirely, the cap will not go off. Trust me on
this.
LOADING:
There should be no lube in the chambers. Don't lubricate the chambers. Dry them thoroughly. Having a stainless
gun makes this less scary. Before loading the first time in the morning, put a cap on each chamber and fire the
caps. That will burn off any oil in the nipple hole. That step is mandatory with BP and optional with 777, APP, and
Pinnacle. With substitutes or Cowboy I have never needed a nipple pick.
Put the red nippled chamber under the rammer.
Put the weapon on half cock so the cylinder can be
rotated. To start with, push the rammer down to lock
the cylinder in place so that the firs chamber after
the red nippled one is in the loading position.
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Put your index finger tip over the powder spout. Turn
the powder measure upside down. Push the powder
release with your thumb. Shake the powder a couple
of times. Release the powder release button. Turn the
powder measure right side up. LOOK AT THE SPOUT.
You should see powder to the end like so:
Carefully place the tip of the nozzle in the chamber
and turn the measure upside down.
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Look in the chamber for a consistent level of powder.
Insert a .457 Round Ball. Release the rammer.
Rotate the cylinder one chamber so the ball is
centered under the rammer.
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Begin to seat the ball. The rammer should be centered over the
ball.
Firmly seat the ball.
You should have a little ring of lead cut off by this
action (visible to right). Using a rag or, in a pinch,
your finger, rotate the cylinder one turn and remove
loose lead rings. This also cleans the cylinder face.
Spin the cylinder until it spins freely.
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Difficulty Ramming?
Grogan, SASS #3584 makes rammer extensions for the
5-1/2" Ruger Old Armies. $19.95 + $3.00 H/S. You can
contact Grogan at [email protected]
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FOR LIGHT LOADS:
The Ruger Old Army was originally designed as a hunting weapon, and a full cylinder holds 50 gr. Y OU DO NOT
NEED 50 GR. LOADS FOR CAS! The stock rammer was designed for full charge loads. The lowest load it will
compress is about 35 gr. (less with a Wonder Wad). That is more than is necessary for CAS. There are several
ways to compress a smaller charge:
1. Ram normally, then insert a .357 rnl
158 gr. bullet between the rammer and
the ball and ram again. That will compress
20 gr. or more.
Negative: Constitutes an extra step.
2. After inserting the powder, fill the
chamber with yellow corn meal. It will
compress more than BP and will give you a very
clean, consistent load. Or you can insert a
1/2" thick .45 wad (Circle Fly makes some).
Negative: It's an extra step, and Murphy's law
is always waiting in the wings. I lost the Texas
State Championship one year when I failed to
insert powder before inserting the corn meal.
Your procedures should be as simple as
possible so you can do them right while
working the unloading table and answering
questions from curious spectators (my
undoing). OR stop charging your pistols until
you can concentrate on it.
3. Use an adjustable or extended ram:
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On the top is as standard Ruger Old Army
Rammer. The middle one is one that Lee's
Gunsmithing welded up adding .35 in. The
bottom one has been cut in half, threaded with
1/4-20 threads, and a threaded rod inserted,
loctited at the muzzle end, with a jam nut on
the adjustable end. The Lee's Gunsmithing unit
is cheaper than the adjustable unit, but you can
get a little more usable length in the adjustable
unit.
The extended adjustable ram in place. Yes, it is
possible to take a chunk out of your hand when
ramming if you pinch it.
Banana River Outfitters sells this extended, adjustable
rammer for $25. Manatee, the gunsmith there, is a known
SASS Good guy and also makes a large bead front sight
for rifles that is very helpful to us older guys with bad
eyes.
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Extended about as far as practical. Note the loading
lever has barely been unsnapped, and the rammer is
about to make contact with the ball. The practical
limit is about 15 gr. and at that level, the leverage is
poor. This only affects 777 as heavier loads, 20-30
gr., work best with the other propellants for me.
.
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